California regulators proposed new rooftop solar fees Tuesday while shooting down certain recommendations from utility firms that threatened expansion of both commercial and residential solar plans.
The California Public Utilities Commission proposed a one-time fee for new solar customers for connecting to the electric grid, with the fee estimated at $75 to $150 per customer. According to its customer generation program, a connection fee has always been in effect but has been distributed to all customers and not just those with rooftop solar.
"[T]hey can pay that fee without jeopardizing the economics of the installation," said program supervisor Sara Kamins.
Onerous fees are fear to adversely affect access to solar power systems not just in the state but throughout the United States.
Proposed added fees and net metering
Rooftop solar users would also shell out 2 to 3 cents for every kilowatt hour for electricity obtained from the utility firms, regardless of the rate of power generated by their solar system. Time-of-use rates, which increase during high-demand periods of electricity, will apply to new customers as well.
According to Kamins, the proposed fees would ensure that rooftop solar users fairly contribute to electricity maintenance – entailing no harm to them as consumers. The up to 3-cent fee, for instance, is projected to go to energy efficiency programs and similar campaigns.
Public feedback on the feel proposals is welcome until mid-January, with the commission poised to release its final decision at a meeting on Jan. 28.
At the heart of the matter is net metering, where utilities credit solar customers for surplus power created by their systems; the power becomes fed back into the grid for other customers’ use. They are credited at the same rate they are paying for electricity.
Kamins added that the proposed decision keeps current net metering guidelines mostly intact.
The commission is crafting new rules, projected to take effect July 2017, to determine compensation for rooftop solar users.
Utility firms’ call for changes
Other utility proposals include crediting solar customers at around 50 percent of the current rates, along with charging monthly fees going by the solar system’s size.
Solar policies around the country could be shaped by these proposed rules, with California seen as a solar policy innovation by other states. The state currently leads the U.S. in rooftop and utility-level solar technology, with Arizona and New Jersey trailing it.
The affordability of solar power systems are feared to be hampered by burdensome fees.
Different sectors expressed varying reactions to the proposed decision.
Southern California Edison said it is inadequate and unfair to non-solar users. “A much more fair approach would maintain some level of subsidy, but at far lower levels, while rooftop solar continues to grow,” said Edison’s regulatory affairs senior vice-president Ron Nichols.
For San Diego Gas & Electric, the proposed decision does not tackle mounting cost burden for customers. They called for “workable solutions… to create a future where all customers can receive benefits.”
Solar proponents lauded the move and are anticipating a stronger final version favoring consumers.
California Solar Energy Industries Assn. director Bernadette Del Chiaro said Gov. Brown’s CPUC is standing up for clean power. “[They] reject the utilities attempts to make solar out of reach for customers,” she said.
